Can you listen to my AC and tell me what's wrong with it?

April 29, 2015 7:20 AM

We left our air conditioner in the window during a cold winter (stupidly uncovered). Now when we turn it on, it makes a ghastly scraping sort of sound for as long as we run it. I've recorded it and taken a photo; any idea what might be the culprit and how to fix it?

Here's the sound of it starting up and shutting down.

Here's a picture of the unit. The scraping sound seems to be correlated with the spinning of the blueish fan you can glimpse on the inside of the unit.

posted by Beardman to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

I think you're right that it's the fan. It's not a rhythmic ticking noise so the fan blades aren't hitting anything. I suspect the bushings that support the fan's shaft (possibly inside the electric motor, depending on the design) need a bit of oil.
posted by jon1270 at 7:26 AM on April 29, 2015

It could be the fan blades hitting a flimsy object such as a leaf. Have you inspected the unit's interior for debris?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:10 AM on April 29, 2015

It's definitely the fan. It could be the blades scraping on something. Or, it could be the bearings self-destructing. I agree, though, with Johnny Wallflower that you should do a good recon of the interior, just to see. And clean it out while you're in there.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:02 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hmm. In my opinion, it's hard to say what's wrong from that sound alone. When you turn it on, does air blow out the in-room vent? If so, is that air cold?
posted by Juffo-Wup at 7:15 PM on April 29, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks! Juffo: yes, it still blows cold air as usual, it just sounds awful.
posted by Beardman at 7:05 AM on April 30, 2015

If you physically stop the blower from turning (for a short time *only*), does the sound stop while you do that?
posted by Juffo-Wup at 6:13 PM on May 7, 2015